GlobalPort of the Philippines made history in the World Polo League, scoring an amazing come-from-behind win in the Tommy Hitchcock Jr. Legacy Memorial in its Triple Crown of Polo opener before a big Sunday crowd at Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington.
Given a ghost of a chance to win the prestigious event after falling behind by 9 goals (12-3) in the second chukker, the team of Rep. Mikee Romero, Polito Pieres, Sapo Caset, and Facundo Obregon rallied mightily to beat Travieso, 17-13, and complete the biggest comeback in the history of the 5-year-old league.
“Great team effort, great win for GlobalPort, and a big boost for Philippine polo, said Romero of their historic win.
What made Romero and GlobalPort’s victory doubly meaningful was that it accomplished the feat right on its first try.
“That made our title win a lot sweeter,” added Romero who was all praise to Caset’s incredible performance.
The talismanic Argentine who is a 10-goaler scored 9 in GlobalPort’s blazing comeback as he combined speed, strength and grace in catching his defenders off-guard. That made him the unanimous MVP of the game.
Even Caset was surprised with their come-from-behind win, saying: “It was an incredible comeback.”
Romero said they started awfully slow and cold as they rivals to a 4-0 and 12-7 leads at the half.
But with Caset shouting “Vamos! Vamos!, Team GlobalPort eventually woke up and put up a show with Caset and Pieres working very well in the middle, Romero in front and Obregon at back.
Slowly but surely, GlobalPort produced valiant runs before finally taking a 13-12 lead which proved huge enough to take the fight of their rivals.
Pieres finished with seven goals as Globalport outshot Travieso, 23-14.
FYI: Hitchcock was great American polo player, who was inducted posthumously into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in 1990. He led Team USA to victory in the 1921 Westchester Cup. From 1922 to 1940, Hitchcock carried a 10-goal handicap. Playing with notable stars such as Pete Bostwick, Jock Whitney, and Gerald Balding, he led four teams to U.S. National Open Championships in 1923, 1927, since its inception.
